Hi Everyone,
I’m Jill, the newest blogger around World Series Dreaming.
First, I would like to thank Anno and the rest of the crew for giving me this opportunity. I am looking forward to blogging and sharing in the love for the Cubs that I know we all have.
I have been a Cub fan my whole life. In fact, from 2006 through 2012, I worked on writing a fiction novel, Ivy Dreams, which tells the tale of a 2014 Cubs World Series. (Hey, this IS 2014, isn’t it?)
My earliest memories in childhood are the days when I would climb into my Grandma’s lap to watch the Cubs on WGN from our Southern Ohio home. [Grandma, for the record, was the last member of my family alive to see a Cubs World Series victory. She was less than a year old.] In 1984, as an almost 4 year old, I wanted to be the female Andre Dawson or Ryne Sandberg when I grew up!
My Dad, an ex-radio sportscaster, did not believe in “Green Eggs and Ham” but stories of the Harry Caray radio broadcasts in St. Louis (I know BOO…. to the Cardinals) that he enjoyed as a kid, how he went to see a concert by The Eagles in 1976 at old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and how Don Henley came out in a Pete Rose jersey. I either heard that story or how Ron Santo deserved to be in the Hall of Fame as much as anyone (unfortunately Ronnie – and Dad – didn’t see this happen on this Earth, but I know both are proud that it finally did). Basically, if it was a baseball memory that Dad remembered, I heard it – a million times!
In 2003, I didn’t blame Steve Bartman. (I think Moises Alou should have caught that ball.)
I had the honor of seeing Nomar Garciaparra, Sammy Sosa and others light up the Astros at Houston’s Minute Maid Park in August of 2004 and laughed because the Houston area Cub fans arrive early and well, Astros fans were still filing into the stadium at the start of the third inning.
On June 22, 2008, months after a poetic “Ode” I wrote to Wrigley Field was published by Chicago Poetry’s magazine, Dad and I were making plans to watch the ESPN broadcast of the Cubs game from Wrigley that night. Hours before the first pitch, Dad succumbed to a massive heart attack. I watched the game, a Cub win, and cried, knowing Dad saw the game from the best seat in the house.
Other fun facts about me, baseball related: my favorite Christmas gift EVER was
Addison the blue Cub bear. On two consecutive Valentine’s Day holidays (2007 and 2008), I walked the base pads at Minute Maid Park during a stadium-held Valentine’s Day wedding contest, jointly hosted by my place of employment and a Houston area radio station. For the wedding, I wrote the winning couple’s wedding toast. (Believe me…. I was dreaming it was a Wrigley wedding!) I have an insane knack of remembering dates and can tell people when pitchers and catchers report at the drop of a hat.
Beyond baseball, I enjoy spending time at the coast or any place outdoors, playing with my dogs, writing (which is probably a no brainer) and dreaming about that Cubs World Championship that has eluded so many – too many – generations of my family’s Cub fans. It WILL happen in my lifetime. I just know it!I look forward to sharing some neat stuff with all of you!
Keep on Dreamin’
Jill
